The European Commission (EC) has given Google “a matter of weeks” to address concerns the American search giant has “abused a dominant market position”.
The announcement overnight (AEST) follows an 18…
Semantic search is about recognising the meaning of words, not just the words themselves.
Chris P Jobling
Late last week, Google representatives unveiled a significant enhancement to the company’s ubiquitous search engine. They’re calling it the “Knowledge Graph” and claiming it will support “more intelligent…
We can already control computers with our thoughts, but how deep does the rabbit hole go?
Warner Bros. Pictures
The growth of augmented reality (AR) will almost certainly change the way we visually experience the everyday world. And, as discussed previously on The Conversation, it’s likely to be Google’s Project…
Google Drive has been launched in an already clouded marketplace.
kilokon.tw
In late April, Google announced, in a relatively low-key post on the official company blog, the existence of Google Drive.
The service, which has been the subject of rumours and enthusiastic chatter…
Is the search giant's foray into augmented reality an exciting or daunting vision of the future?
Google
Earlier this month, Google released a video (see below) announcing Project Glass: the development of a pair of glasses with a real difference.
Google’s augmented reality eyewear (or “eyeware”) will provide…
Should legislation be used to tame the search engine's appetite?
COG LOG LAB
We all know Google has a history of privacy-related misdemeanors but a report in the Wall Street Journal last week
suggests the search giant hasn’t learn from its mistakes.
The report, about the findings…
Apple has been the target of protests over working conditions in China.
AAP
Over the last few weeks, what was the juiciest development for those that cannot get enough of gossip about tech giant Apple? Was it “when will the iPad 3 debut and will it have a retina display?“ Or…
The creative sector may need a little help protecting itself online.
unsure shot
Creators of online content should feel free to share material online without fear of non-attribution or piracy, or having their copyright or trademarks misused. Plainly, the current system of enforcement…
Going public is not without its risks, even for internet giants.
Peter DaSilva/EPA
Facebook announced overnight that it’s going to sell US$5 billion of shares in its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO). Company executives filed the official paperwork to get the IPO process underway…
Who really knows what you want – the search engine or you?
Ste fan
In what has been labelled a “bad day for the internet”, Google last week changed its search engine to include personalised results from Google+.
The introduction of Google Search plus Your World has led…
Looking at the earth from above can reveal incredible secrets.
delayed gratification
Archaeology is the study of the remains of the past but has long been predatory on the sciences and their ever-growing technologies. I was brought up as a student in 1970s Britain, when we learned of the…
What's coming up? Where will we find it? What does it mean?
h.koppdelaney
Around this time of year you see plenty of articles (such as this one) reflecting on notable technologies and events of the year now gone. Such pieces will also attempt to predict the events of the year…
Stuck between sock stores and sanger stalls? This tech could really help.
avlxyz
Christmas is fast approaching and there’s a (very big) chance you’ve got some last-minute shopping to do. You won’t be the only one, and with shopping centres packed to capacity, it’s easy to get lost…
Is tighter online regulation a cause for despair or jubilation?
kelvin255
Battle lines have been drawn in the US between proponents of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), currently being debated, and those who oppose any regulation of the internet.
On one side are organisations…
The major social network sites have recently been touting improved privacy settings to allow users to customise post audiences. Google+ Circles, Facebook lists, and now Unthink’s branches are engineering…
Unthink is positioning itself as a force of "emancipation".
Unthink.com
On October 25, Unthink invited public beta users to put aside their YASNS (Yet Another Social Network Site) fatigue. Since then, it claims to have attracted more than 100,000 registered users.
The site…
It’s hard to know what to think about Google these days. Financially, the company is booming, but its reputation has suffered following the lukewarm reception for Google+, and an embarrassing outburst…
The scorecard for Google+ to date shows pluses and minuses.
Birgerking.
Features are not friends. That’s the simple message to Google+ from 40 University of Queensland students after using the system since its invite-only launch in July.
To say the service’s fortunes to date…
Responses to climate change are becoming a crucial part of business strategy.
AAP/Google
By Paul Brown, University of Technology, Sydney and Suzanne Benn, University of Technology, Sydney
In early September, Google publicly disclosed details of its carbon footprint for the first time, launching the Google Green website in the process.
The search giant revealed a carbon footprint of 1.5…
Carrying cards and cash on your phone seems like a big call.
Google
So it’s finally here: Google Wallet, a free Android app that turns your (Google) smartphone into a mobile payment system, launched today.
To do this, the company has partnered with Citi, MasterCard, First…
A battle is raging over search and serendipity online.
AndYaDontStop
The latest salvo in the internet attention wars has come in the form of figures from StatCounter.
A relatively small content driving service called StumbleUpon drove more than 50% of all social media…
Patent acquisition is a delicate game of balance and counterbalance.
Rolf Vennenbernd/EPA
The patent wars took a bizarre turn this week.
Samsung, currently defending itself against a legal move by Apple to have four Samsung smartphones and tablets banned from America due to alleged patent…
Google CEO Eric Schmidt will discuss collaboration at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Peter Parks/AFP
Google chairman Eric Schmidt will make history tomorrow as the first IT/internet executive to deliver the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.
In doing so, he will face…
It can be hard to know where the next bit of hypercharged rhetoric will come from.
fotoforlizzie
If you believe the hype, the “patent wars” are well and truly underway.
Google announced last week it will buy Motorola Mobility to get access to 15,000 of the handset manufacturer’s patents and HTC…
The proposed buyout of Motorola Mobile is Google's largest acquisition.
Google surprised the entire tech industry last night by announcing it is acquiring Motorola Mobility, the maker of Droid smartphones and Xoom tablets, for US$12.5 billion in cash.
This move, the largest…
The battles currently being waged raise serious questions about patent law.
Yonhap/AAPIMAGE
The mobile patent wars, it seems, have reached Australian shores.
On Monday, representatives of Apple and Samsung were in the Australian Federal Court, fighting it out over Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet…
The suspension of Google+ accounts has raised questions about the company's aims.
yuichio.sakuraba
The phrase “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” was coined by American computer programmer Eric S. Raymond to distinguish two different approaches to the development of software.
The Bazaar was likened to the…
Search engines can flag up "dubious" searches on request.
ssoosay
We know the self-confessed perpetrator of the Norway killings Anders Breivik purchased six tonnes of fertiliser, a key ingredient of explosives, in recent months.
We know he was under surveillance by…
Some users have been automatically suspended from all Google services.
halilgokdal
A fresh storm has blown into Google’s new Google+ service. The company has been suspending accounts because they contravene Google’s Community Standards – ostensibly to stop fake or spam accounts being…
When the driver's away, the cars will play.
joeszilvagyi
It’s a science fiction staple: driverless cars navigating crowded cities. But just how close are we to such a world? How long until an autonomous vehicle could be sitting in your driveway?
Last year Google…
Google+ faces an uphill struggle to win hearts and minds.
Google
Google is hoping that the saying “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again” will work out for them with Google+.
Launched as a private beta version on Tuesday, Google+ is the search giant’s latest…
Are traditional telephony services looking down the barrel of a gun?
Grace
If you use services such as Skype, you’ll already know about Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). This is what makes your video calls with loved ones possible, and – not least with the advent of the NBN…
There's every chance your computer has been compromised.
TTC Press Images
Today, Australia’s Labor Government announced it had started working on a national cyber security strategy, to be released as a white paper in the first half of next year.
This comes amid growing concern…
Knowing me, knowing you: there is nothing we can't view.
tonechootero/Flickr
Advanced surveillance and social media might seem like strange bedfellows. Until you look a bit closer, that is.
Technologies developed for surveillance applications are typically designed with robustness…
Cloud computing could completely change the game.
sharmili r/Flickr
Google’s so-called Chromebook will be launched next month in the US and much of Europe, and, not unusually, “some time later” in Australia …
The move was announced at the company’s flasghip I/O conference…
Since 1950, more than 150,000 people have died in motor vehicle crashes in Australia. The worst year was 1970, when 3,798 people lost their lives – more than 10 deaths each day.
Annual deaths are now…
Chrome is heralded as the fastest browser, but are the others catching up?
Until a few years ago, there was only one name in the world of web browsing: Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. But now, in 2011, users have more choice than ever when it comes to searching online.
Before…
Last week's Google Books ruling was a win for copyright protection.
AAP
The decision by a US Federal Court judge last week to reject a $US125 million settlement between Google Books and the publishing industry allows authors to protect their copyright and prevents Google from…
